Campo Tourism

Last Friday I took off with two of my colleagues to meet with people in some communities where I will be doing the first part of my field work, the focus groups to refine the themes and questions to go into my part of the survey. (I realized I haven't really written about my work. Next post. Right now I want to talk about our crazy weekend.)

After a couple of successful meetings, we headed down to El Torno, the town close to these communities, to pick up another colleague and her friend who was visiting, because we were all going to go to some cabins and see some waterfalls, and to sleep, because finding the cabins in the dark, we were told, would be nearly impossible.

The next morning we woke up early and after two and a half bumpy hours we arrived at the cabins. They were lovely. Birds were singing, the sun was shining, and we had some waterfalls to see. But first, let's get into these cabins. Hmm...

We had called two days earlier to say we would be coming, and were told that someone would be there to let us in, so off we go to find the person with the keys. The first person we run into tells us the guy with the keys isn't here, he's gone to El Torno and may or may not be back today. But this other guy who lives across the river might have the key. So we go to his house, and find nobody home. Back to the woman washing her clothes by the river, who suggests we talk to the guys building a house by the school to see if any of them can take us to the waterfall, let's worry about the keys later. The guys say there's this other guy who lives half an hour up the road who is having a party and who has the key. So we'll go up there after our trip to the waterfall. Great, we're all set.

So we go to the waterfalls. There are three of them, and they're huge - 100 meters - and gorgeous. I'll post pictures. We wade in the waterfalls, lay in the sun, it's great. And when we get back, we head to the party to get the keys.

We drive about half an hour on yet another crazy bumpy dirt road, and when the road ends, we're at the party. And it is quite the party. People are standing around, one woman is walking around with a pitcher of chicha and a single glass, and from the sedateness of the crowd it seems like she should get a few more glasses or move a little faster. There is a cool ceremony going on that involves throwing a machete, digging a big hole, and burying some food there, as a way to ensure bovine productivity for the next year. And people have no idea why we're there, but they still offer us chicha, yuca with cheese, and hot whipped milk with liquor in it.

As for the key, the guy who's throwing the party, the reason we came, doesn't have the key. Apparently only the guy who went to El Torno has the key. A few guys walk up to the top of a hill to get cell reception and come back with news that he is on his way and should be back around 6. Sweet. So we bid our raging party goodbye and head back to wait. And wait. And it gets dark. So we look at the stars, eat oranges, and keep waiting.

Finally, around 7:30, we decide to head back to the city because it's a long drive and we're not sure if they'll ever show up. Less than half an hour later we run into the truck with the guy with the key. Great. At this point most of our group was a little fed up and set on going home, so we don't turn around, and a few hours later we are back in dirty loud Santa Cruz, where there are no stars.

And at about midnight Paulo wants to go salsa dancing, and how could I possibly resist salsa dancing? It was a long day.